New owner of beautiful H575 needs help

[cwthompson]

Hi everyone, I'm a new member here and the proud owner of a beautiful 2005 H575 I bought online. It is an absolutely beautiful guitar. I used to play guitar many years ago but have just recently fallen in love again after a 30 year absence.

 

This is the first electric archtop I've owned and I'm having a problem deciding on setting for the pick-ups. I think I've figured out that the toggle switch positions are as follows; toggle switch in down position for front (treble) pick-up only, middle position for both pick-ups and up switch position for rear pick-up.

 

The two pots nearest the neck are volume controls, bottom one is for front (trebel) pick-up and top front pot is for rear pick-up volume. But I'm not sure exactly how they inter relate with the toggle switch in the middle postion. Also, I am having trouble setting up the two tone controls.

 

I know you have to experiment to find the sountone one is looking for but I wonder if some of you would offer your suggestions on how to set all these switches, volume and tone controls. I am looking for a nice warm bluesy tone from the guitar. Do you use one or both pick-ups? How are your tone controls set?

 

If none of this makes sense then please forgive me and I'll try and figure it out myself.

 

 

Thanks for any help.

 

Craig Thompson

[TalismanRich]

Welcome, CW. I think you'll find you're in good company. Lots of us played years ago, put the guitars away when marriage, kids, jobs, mortgages, soccer games, etc took over, only to pick up a guitar one day and find the reason we started playing so long ago.

 

You're right about the wiring on the 575s. It should be similar to the 535 and 150 in control layout. Up gives the neck pickup, down is the bridge, and middle joins the two together. Normally, the bottom volume/tone pair work with the bridge and the top with the neck.

 

For a jazzy tone, I'll usually go with the neck pickup with the tone backed off a few clicks... maybe 8 or so, and roll the volume down a bit as well. The normal humbucker scheme used today will drop off the top end as you back off the volume. But, this will depend a lot on your amp settings. I will often back off the bottom and dial up the top, then use the neck pickup, or the blend if I want a bit of sparkle, especially for blues. This will usually be way too bright when using just the bridge. I also find my Marshall needs totally different settings than my Peavey.

 

The whole thing is a system, you need to play with the settings and find your own tone. Don't overlook things like the strings (I'll liking the DR Pure Blues) and picks. They will change your sound a lot!

 

Good luck, have fun, and join in on the conversations.

[kbp810]

Welcome to the HOC, and welcome to the 575 club!

 

I think you'll find there is no one set answer for where you want the tone's, volumes, or pup position at any given time. Might be more of a case of spending some time getting used to how they intereact in relation to the sound your ears are trying to find.

 

I'm a blues and classic rock player, but generally speaking I tend to roll the tone control down (3-4) when playing from the neck; and probaly closer to 6-8 when middle or bridge. It all depends on what I'm playing and what amp I am playing through.

 

Either way, welcome once again and would love to see some pics of that 575!

[Hfan]

Welcome to the club Craig, as mentioned in a previous post, there are others here who returned to playing after a long hiatus.

 

I have no theories on presets etc, I just play around with guitar and amp srettings until it sounds good to me. Everyone has their own concepts of "good tone".

 

As someone mentioned already, strings are an important consideration and not just for tone. For a while I was using a set of .012s with an unwound G string, turned out it was causing my 575's wood bridge to not intonate properly. I could adjust the bridge to intonate all the other strings but not the G, thought it was the bridge, my Guitar tech recommended a wound 3rd and bingo, now it's perfect.. FWIW.

[Steiner]

Hi CW - welcome to the collective. More specifically, welcome to the world of the perfect guitar! The 575 is a versatile guitar that will serve you very well.

 

Your description above is backwards; the toggle up is the neck pickup and the upper pots are also controlling the neck pickup. You were correct about the volume pots.

 

There are no right or wrong settings while playing. Each change just evokes a different voice from the guitar. If you like it, stay there and play. If not, make a change. My ears prefer both pickups running with the neck vol~8, tone~4 and bridge vol~3, tone~10; that configuration sucks for recording and band situations but sounds luscious to me. YMMV

 

We're all about porn here. Nice photos of Heritage guitars! If you have some; won't you share with us?

[mark555]

Wish I had a 575, what a superb guitar. Welcome.

[cwthompson]

Thanks everyone for your input. When I get some time I'll take some pictures of my beautiful H575. Love this guitar more every day. As a side note, and no disrespect for the guys at Heritage, soon after I received the guitar ( a 2005 model) I took it to a very well respected luthier here in town to have it checked over and set up. He was quite disappointed at the fret finishing on the guitar and the fact it had a plastic nut. He did a complete set-up and replaced the plastic nut with a bone nut with the slots cut at a slight angle to align the strings with the tuners. He also wasn't happy with the finishing and fit of the floating rosewood bridge. That being said, he did say it was a beautiful, well made guitar (other than the sloppy fret work). Now I have a perfect H575:)